POCATELLO – Housing could be brought into reach for many in Pocatello who presently can’t afford it, thanks to an upcoming project to remodel a vacant building.
The project aims to bring around 40 studio-style apartments and potentially resource-offering nonprofit organizations to the building at 805 North Main Street in Historic Downtown Pocatello, which used to house a call center. Units could be available in as soon as four months and will house people who live on a fixed-income and can’t typically qualify for subsidized housing.
“It’s going to help everyone — the area, the city, the residents. It should be pretty impressive,” said Jared Mangum, executive director of Pocatello’s
Housing Alliance and Community Partnerships
.
On Tuesday, Mangum met with Sean Williams and Benji Fielding, the former co-owners of the building, and signed a wraparound loan agreement, which transfers ownership of the building to the housing alliance.
Williams and Fielding bought the building toward the end of 2019 while it was still a functioning call center. Soon after, COVID-19 swept around the world, prompting the call center to vacate the building and then end its lease two years later.
Before planning on the housing project started, the co-owners fielded interest from a variety of potential clients, the majority of whom wanted to use the entire building, but none ended up working out, most often due to issues with timing or financial constraints.
“Someone would come and say, ‘Hey, we’re ready to take 10,000 square feet today,’ but then we (would) jeopardize the other 30,000 square feet,” Williams said.
Eventually, the two of them decided to try and start their own business, which would have been temperature-controlled storage units. But they found out that the city had a different vision for what the building should become, one that would better fit with the rest of Historic Downtown Pocatello, Williams said.
“(The city) felt like it would create a hole in downtown, and the city is invested in downtown, and wanted to make sure that (it) has places for people to go,” Williams said.
Mangum entered the picture in January, when he stopped by the building, and introduced himself to Williams. While they chatted, he asked the building owner a question.
“Why don’t you put housing units in here?” Mangum asked.
At the time, Williams and Fielding were under the impression that a housing development wouldn’t work in the building, because not every unit would be able to have a window that opens up to the outside. After evaluating city code, they found that apartment units with a window that opens up to the hallway would be allowed due to the building’s fire suppression system.
At that point, they were ready to work with the housing alliance to turn it into a housing project. Williams and Fielding have given the housing alliance a $250,000 gift, as well as a loan for that same amount at 0% interest to get the project started.
Despite taking on the property, the alliance doesn’t have to take out a new mortgage, because the Bank of Idaho allowed it to take on a wrap loan, despite the property not generating revenue for years. This loan essentially allows the alliance to take on the mortgage from Williams and Fielding.
The housing alliance plans to have each apartment unit contain a main living area, a small kitchenette and a bathroom with a private shower, with shared laundry facilities on-site. Mangum estimates the per month rent of these apartments to be around $600 per month.
The former owners and Mangum also pointed out how many advantages the building’s location offers for future residents. Located in Historic Downtown Pocatello, the building is right next to a bus stop and is just behind Ridley’s Family Markets.
The apartments are going to be built in phases, with the entire housing project expected to be complete in around a year. Once finished, the apartments will take up around half of the 43,500 square foot building.
Mangum shared with EastIdahoNews.com how thankful the housing alliance is for both the bank’s generosity and Williams and Fielding’s selflessness.
“The bank could have said no … but because of Sean and Benji’s relationship with them, and that they’re also good people, they saw the need,” Mangum said.
Mangum added that at one point, the housing alliance didn’t think it would be able to take on the project and could have walked away, but Williams and Fielding’s “generosity and willingness to get the deal done drew us back in.”
“(Williams and Fielding) could have done nothing … or they could have done something else. But I think it just goes to show that if they weren’t invested in the process of giving to the community and making this happen, it wouldn’t have,” Mangum said.
